Parenting with Kingdom Purpose

I've been reading this book for one of my classes, and it's sparked some really challenging thoughts/ideas. The book talks about raising your children in a way that helps them cut through the muck of modern life and live lives for the Kingdom of God. Have you ever noticed how much Jesus talked about the Kingdom?

Out of this reading, many ideas have arisen for me. Here's a couple of them:

1. Start a bank account for missions - this can be for individual mission trips for each of your kids or family mission trips. How you spend your money is a strong indicator of what you are truly passionate about.
2. Buy your kids a map/globe - use it to give them a more global perspective about what God is doing in the world. I subscribe to the free magazine Voice of the Martyrs, and they send out a World Prayer Map that shows countries where persecution for the gospel is high. We often pray for an individual country when we pray for our meal.
3. Take your kids with you when you do ministry - visit someone in the hospital, pray with someone, share your faith, etc. By the way, this is not just what pastors should be doing...the Bible is clear that pastors and teachers are called to "prepare God's people for works of service."
4. Instead of buying each other gifts at Christmas, buy worthwhile items for families in need.
5. Make the Kingdom a priority in your personal life. The faith of the young will typically mirror that of the key adults in their lives. Most kids raised in "Christian" homes end up rejecting the faith or going through the motions because they saw how their parent's really demonstrated their faith. A guy in class today made a profound statement..."Hypocrisy is most clearly seen through the eyes of a 15-year old." Genuine modeling from my parents is what has spoken the most to me.

Let's brainstorm...what other ways can you encourage Kingdom living in your home? Maybe your children are already grown...it's not too late to model it. I know I'm still learning from my parents. If you don't have kids yet, how can you make the Kingdom a priority in your life. Who else in your life can you model Kingdom living for? What does it really mean to be Kingdom minded? Jesus talks a lot about it...why don't you ask him?

"4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

Deut. 6:4-9